Rs. 2,900 crores to modernise textile mills

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, OCT. 12. The Union Cabinet has allocated Rs. 2,900 crores for a massive programme to revive, strengthen, and modernise textile mills. Under the programme, the technology of units under the National Textile Corporation will be upgraded.

Addressing presspersons here on Friday, the Union Minister of State for Textiles, Mr. V. Dhananjaya Kumar, said that out of 122 mills, 40 were working well, and 60 were ``functioning partially''. The rest were sick units, he added.

The minister, who presided over meetings to discuss issues concerning his department, and promotion of the use of Hindi in the Central departments here, in the past two days, said that the programme would give a fillip to the textile sector. The NTC would enter the world market in a big way by 2005 when the multi- fibre agreement would come to an end, he added.

He said three units of the Karnataka-Yellamma Mills in Davangere, and the Mysore Mills and the Minerva Mills in Bangalore, which were clubbed, would get support. On the MSK Mills in Gulbarga and the Chamundi Mills in Bangalore, he said they would be closed, and the workers given the VRS option. The BIFR would decide the fate of some of the mills, he added.

Two out of six mills in Andhra Pradesh, and all the units in Kerala and Mahe (six), would be revived, Mr. Kumar said. The Union Textiles Ministry had a Textile Upgradation Fund of Rs. 25,000 crores, out of which Rs. 8,000 crores had been spent for helping sick mills and modernising them. He added that such units had been given a five per cent interest subsidy loan.

Mr. Kumar said Rs. 280 crores used to be provided in the Union Budget for payment of wages to idle workers in sick mills. As many as 300 workers of the Yellamma Mills in Davangere would benefit from a new scheme, he said.

The ministry was closely associated with the State Sericulture Department's efforts to improve bivoltine silk production. Expressing happiness over the progress, Mr. Kumar said the total production might cross 9,000 tonnes in the current year. Karnataka accounted for 60 per cent of silk produced in the country, he added.

He said the Union Government could not give adequate subsidy to the State in the past four years. In the current year, it would grant Rs. 7 crores to sericulturists directly. Next year, the assistance would be increased to Rs. 10 crores for development and extension work. Major upgradation work of reeling programmes on a massive scale would be taken up. Last year, 230 new multi- ended reeling units were sanctioned, he added.The National Institute of Fashion Technology in Bangalore, which was being established at a cost of Rs. 13 crores, would be ready this year. An apparel park, comprising modern processing units and basic facilities such as drinking water, electricity and roads, would be formed at a cost of Rs.17 crores.

Mr. Kumar said he had received a proposal on ``Reshme Sampathu'' from the State Government, to build rearing houses, and provide drip irrigation equipment. His ministry had increased the subsidy from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000. The Central Silk Board had earmarked Rs. 1 crore for the development of bivoltine variety of silk in the State, he added.

He said the ministry was interested in assisting in ginning, spinning, weaving, and marketing, and introducing a health package scheme for workers. Assistance would be provided to weavers and the handloom sector, he added.

The minister said the Hindi Advisory Committee had decided to direct the Central departments to promote use of the language in administration.

Mr. Ramesh Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, NTC (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Mahe), Mr. Rajendra Kumar, Development Commissioner for Handlooms, and Ms. Hema Maya, Director, NIFT, were present.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : No going back on expressway: Dharam
Next     : WB-aided road project to cover 2,263 km.